Published 5:33 pm, Saturday, February 16, 2013

FAIRFIELD -- Somewhere amidst all the bodies crashing to the floor and all the free throws, a rather interesting girls basketball playoff game between Trumbull High and Trinity Catholic unfolded Saturday at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.

Trumbull fell behind by eight after one quarter, then saw its 15-point, third-quarter lead shrink to four with three minutes to play. But the Eagles hung on for a 55-44 Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference quarterfinal victory.

Trumbull (19-2), the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will face Westhill or Stamford in Tuesday's semifinals at Ludlowe. Trinity (14-7), meanwhile, seeded seventh, now must wait for the state tournament to begin. Fortunately for both teams, each escaped with no injuries, something that didn't seem likely as Saturday's game played out.

"This was playoff basketball," Trumbull coach Steve Tobitsch said. "Yes it was physical inside but that's because both teams wanted it so badly."

Trinity coach Tom Kriz, who was slightly more critical of the officiating, agreed.

"It's the FCIACS," he said. "There's a lot of emotion and we have five seniors who don't want the season to end."

One of those seniors was Ali Palma who finished with 16 points and six rebounds . . . and a few bumps and bruises.

"We expected that kind of intensity," Palma said. "Yes, it was a physical game but that's because we all work so hard and have so much heart."

There were 55 free throws attempted (Trumbull 24-31, Trinity 12-24) as both teams weren't afraid to mix it up under the boards. But Trumbull had more depth, as well as senior center Erin Moore (12 rebounds) and senior guard Alexa Pfohl (11 points). Trumbull's top two players combined for 20 points but made just one field goal each.

"You could tell both teams really wanted to win," Moore said. "There were a lot of fouls out there but our depth was the difference. That takes the pressure off the two of us."

"The girls off the bench play so hard right to the end," Pfohl added. "The key is that we have each other's back."

Besides depth, the Eagles have size, solid shooting -- Amanda Pfohl led the team with 13 points -- toughness and poise. That last one came in handy after Trinity raced to an 8-0 lead (15-7 after one quarter).

"Trinity played fantastic but give our team credit," Tobitsch said, "We had to dig ourselves out of a hole. Our senior leadership kept us together."

Trumbull held Trinity to one point in the second quarter and went on a 28-5 run for a 35-20 lead.

"We did some nice things in the first quarter but then the shots started falling for them and we lost our poise," Kriz said. The Crusaders went nearly 12 minutes without a field goal after building the 15-7 lead.

With Palma and Amy Hurd leading the comeback, the Crusaders got within 44-40 with three minutes remaining. But the Eagles made their last nine free throws to seal the victory.